Tired Players

A Poem by CWilder

Story like poem about the struggle of teenage love.

As she looks at the clock, she watches the time slowly pass by.
She runs and suns to catch the sun but she peers around to realize she is back where she has begun.
When will this game, this dreadful game be done?
It's taken out many players, and those who weren't were left tired.
Things start out easy then gradually get more complex by the minute. The game pushes and pulls us past our limits. Some continue, some give up, but she struggles to see her eye on the ball.
He's got it! He throws the pass, she misses, fumbles down with a hard fall.
Just when you think it's all over she gets back up, brushes herself off and takes her place again...how many times will she allow herself to get knocked down and trampled over?
The pulsating sensation that steadily vibrates within, burns. She ignores it and continues.
The crowd is in "aww". Some think she crazy while others think she's brave. People she her as a winner but slowly she begins to see herself as another tired player.
The coach asked, "are you ready to take the bench?" She wants to say yes, to desperately give up, but the burning inside her screams "No!"
She positions herself for another catch and another. But fate has a way with her game.
Still the endurance and strength within leaves her without shame. She is here to do what comes easy to others but harder for some.
As the whistle blows, her body trembles with gratitude. She needs a break. She is taken out of the game for quite sometime, then the coach pushes her out onto that awful field once more.
Now she sees things more clearly. She glances at her opponent, the ball is tossed, and with all her might she takes that terrifying leap. Catches the ball! Holds on and runs!
She doesn't look back, just runs and runs. Did she really catch the ball? Or did fate finally catch her? Nevermind that, she passes yard after yard and realizes she is alone on the opposite side. She pauses, breaths and progresses. Just when she thinks she had made it, she feels the rumble behind her. He jumos and tackles her. She falls sobbing to the ground.
The crowd roars, while she cries. She begins to take off the protective helmet and let the whole stand see her cry. She questions herself, "what did I do wrong?" "Why?"
The answer is so close yet so far beyond her reach.
She stands up, looks around and realizes she opened herself up yet no one did anything.
She walks off the field to preserve what's left of her dignity. She glances uo at the sun, but this time it wasn't where it had begun. It shifted. Or was it her that shifted? At this time she doesn't know.
As she sits to analyze what she had done, she feels as if someone is starring at her. Just as she looks in the direction of his piercing stare, their eyes connect only to have another player walk up and steal that moment. It was close but still to far beyond her reach.
Is she just another tired player? Or is there a reason for these setbacks in her game?
Once again she wants to give up and wait for whats to come. She decides to wait. Time will take care of it all, she tells herself. She longs for it, yet pushes it away.
Once again she looks at the clock, what seemed like hours were only minutes. She sighs then cries. She is left to warm the bench. She waits and waits but nothing happens. Just then the coach pulls her aside and tells her she just doesn't have what it takes, this disturbed her. She tells him to put her back in, "I'm a player" she yells. "I belong with my team".
She suits back up and finds her place on the field, with the feeling of power and undetained might.
As the ball is hiked, the crowd goes silient. She focuses, grabs the ball and flies past the enormous towering players around her. She passes the guy that taunted her in her dreams. Puts everything she has left into making that touchdown.
She did it! She did it for her. When no one else thought she could, she did the impossible and won. Not the game of course due to her faulty passes and throws but she wins and concires herself. Now she knows she isn't just another tired player.
The game is done but still many more to be won.